


In That Moment

by timeless_alice



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Banter, Before the Proverbial End, M/M, Shockwave Repairs A Bench Thats It, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:51:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,123
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeless_alice/pseuds/timeless_alice
Summary: Shockwave gives up on complaining and fixes the damn bench himself.





	In That Moment

The air was warm on that day by the Ark monument. It was quiet, those with time off preferring to spend their day finding other things to do than remember. So Orion sat alone at  _their_  bench, fingers tapping at his knee while he waited. A few passed by him as they cut through the memorial, even less passing a second glance at the list of names detailing the lost; none spared him a look at all. 

And that was all right with him.

Time ticked by as he sat in his silence, and he did not wonder where Shockwave was. He understood that the senate could keep him occupied for far longer than planned, and it was not as if he had anywhere to be. He had made sure that his plans would allow for this, no matter how long it took. Overthrowing the government, making life better, took time, and for Shockwave– for Shockwave he had all the time in the world.

More time passed, and he had half a mind to stand and reread the names on the monument. Further engrave them into his own memory, even though he had read them countless times before. He shifted and the bench, with its broken leg that had never been fixed, shifted under him. There was always the threat of collapse under his weight, though that had yet to happen. He sighed, and remained still. 

Soon after, there was Shockwave. He caught Orion’s eye as he stalked across the plaza with his kibble quivering and what looked to be a toolbox in hand. Orion could not help the laugh that escaped from his throat, tripping over itself in his surprise. He was a man on a mission at all times, of course, but he tended to carry himself with a well practiced ease that was a little disarming. Even in the moments of conspiring confined to his apartment, he was more stern than anything else. The serious, hellbent set to his jaw was something new, and it verged into the comical.

“What are you planning on doing with that?” he asked when Shockwave was close enough, the ghost of his laugh clinging to the words to make them bubble. 

Shockwave looked at him, his frown deepening and gaze burning with determination for whatever he had set his mind to. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was set, the tension that settled along his shoulders making his wings quiver. “I’m done complaining,” he said. There was frustration and annoyance in his voice, the kind that stews in someone for days and years and centuries. With the climax of long held emotions - ones Orion could not find the source of - came the loss of his Iacon accent, crafted with care after years of being in the Senate, in favor of his native Nyonian accent. A little less refined, but still pleasant to Orion’s ear.

He dropped the toolbox to the ground, then crouched beside it. From his perch on the rickety bench, Orion watched.

“I’ve complained about this bench for years,” Shockwave said, digging through the open toolbox. “But do they fix it? No, because time and money is better worth being spent elsewhere.” He grumbled, and Orion could imagine one of the millions of complaints Shockwave had about the rest of the senate.

His words were true and they were serious, but Orion wanted to laugh all the same at the intensity in Shockwave’s voice. At the rambling quality his tone took on as he continued. After a fashion, it was almost as if Orion wasn’t there at all.

“I’ve had enough, I just have to do it myself. I have to do everything myself.”

For the years they had known each other, Orion had come to know Shockwave as someone who enjoyed working with his hands. Unlike most of the others in his class, cushy and living in luxury, Shockwave enjoyed work. Hated being stagnant, even, save for the nights of respite where he entertained the friends and guests he deemed worthy of knowing his private life. But it was still nonetheless strange seeing Shockwave, with a coat of paint only gained just a few prior in one of his turns of fancy that made others think he was an airhead, poised to do repair work on a bench.

“It’s the little things, Pax,” he said, looking up to acknowledge him at last. The anger melted away when their eyes met. And there was that smile, crooked and charming and wonderful. He shook a wrench at him, adding, “If we can’t get this right, we can’t do anything else.”

“So you’re giving up your dream of fixing the state of our government,” Orion teased, “to fix benches full time?”

“I can’t believe you’d insult me like that!” Shockwave said in mock offense, holding his free hand to his chest with an exaggerated gape of his mouth. “I am a man of many talents, I’ll have you know!”

Orion’s engine trilled with a short purr, and he tilted his head to the side. “Like spending hours preening and enjoying some light drinking?”

“Hey now.” Shockwave’s Nyon accent grew only thicker. “I have other hobbies. And I can take down the Senate while doing all of them.” A paused, a soft laugh. “Maybe not the drinking. Are you going to help me or are you just going to keep sitting up there, making my life a nightmare?”

A hum filled the air, and Orion shrugged. He knew that he would, eventually, give in and help Shockwave with repairs. But he loved to tease him, and more still, he loved to watch Shockwave work. A scientist in his previous life, in the poor sectors of Nyon that required some maneuvering and some great deal of skill with constantly failing technology. He was sure that if he pressed just a little, asked just the right digging question, he was sure that Shockwave would start on a rant about how Iacon had so much wealth in its upper classes but did not take care of its own infrastructure.

“In a minute,” he finally said. “For now, I just want to watch you.”

Shockwave rolled his eyes, tilting his head to accentuate it. “Then at least get off the bench,” he said. “Last thing I need is for us to make this worse.”

If he wanted, Orion could look deeper into his words. Into the greater picture of the world he had been dragged into, but in the moment he didn’t. In that moment of quiet in the warm afternoon air with the person he loved being with more than anyone else, he allowed it to be a simple statement about nothing more than a broken bench.

**Author's Note:**

> hey im timelessmulder on tumblr


End file.
